Cotton-chopper and weed-cutter.



- PATENTED FEB. 14, 1905. C. S. SIMMONS & W. N. ROSE.

COTTON CHOPPER AND WEED CUTTER.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 20. 1904.

ATTORI/E UNITED STATES Patented February 14, 1905.

PATENT OF ICE.

CHARLES S. SIMMONS AND ILLIAM N. ROSE, OF CACHE, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

\ COTTON-CHOPPER AND WEED-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,705, dated February14, 1905.

Application filed September 20, 1904. Serial No. 225,210.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, CHARLEs S. SIMMONS and WILLIAM N. Rose, citizens ofthe United States, and residents of Cache, in the county of Comanche andTerritory of Oklahoma, have invented a new and Improved Cotton-Chopperand VVeed-Cutter, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention has for its object to provide novel details ofconstruction for a cottonchopper and weed-killer that may be attached upon the frame of an ordinary corn or cotton cultivator or be mountedupon an individual frame and afl'ord reliable means for cutting offweeds at their roots at the sides of rows of cotton-plants, cut outsuckers and extraneous plants between such as are to be left standing,and also stir the soil between such standing plants in a row as themachine is progressively moved along the rows of plants.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination ofparts as is hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference inclicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view of an ordinary cultivator and of the improvedattachment mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of theimprovement mounted upon portions of the side beams of the cultivator,and Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modified arrangement for the improvementon the beams of a cultivator.

In the drawings that show the application of the improvement upon adouble-beam cultivator, such as is in use for remo ing weeds andloosening the soil between rows of growing corn or of cotton-plants, A Arepresent the pair of side beams for the cultivator, that in thisconstruction are held spaced apart in parallelism by a suitable numberof transverse frame-bars a, the ends of which appear in Fig. l. Theforward ends of the side beams A are, as usual, supported at a properdistance from the ground by a pair of wheels, such as B, held to rotateon a transverse axle end and upon the upper side thereof.

C, secured upon the side beams, an end of the axle appearing in Fig. 1.

Means for connecting a draft-animal to the front end of thecultivator-frame is shown at D in Fig. l, and near the rear ends of thepair of side beams A the usual handles E are secured, one on each sidebeam, as represented for one beam in Fig. 1. Upon each beam A near theirrear ends one or more standards F are secured by their upper ends, saidstandards, which incline downward and forward, being braced by struts G,that ex tend from the beams A downward and rearward to engage thestandards at a suitable distance below the beams. Upon the lower ends ofthe standards F the usual shovel-plow blades H are secured, which areadapted for the loosening of soil through which they are drawn and alsofor the killing of weeds that may grow between rows of corn or cottonplants. The cultivator just de-' scribed may be advantageously employedfor cooperation with the improvement which will now be described.

Upon each side beam A forward of the standards F is secured ajournal-box 5, adapted to support vertically the main portion of a shaft6, held to rotate therein at a desired point on the shaft by the collars7 7, which are mounted upon the shaft and are secured theretorespectively above and below the beam A upon which the box is mounted.The portion of each shaft 6 which extends below the beam A is preferablybent into substantially S shape at 6, so that the lower portion thereofinclines downward and forward, as shown in Fig. 1, for one shaft. Uponthe lower end of the bent portion 6 of each shaft 6 is secured thecutter-blade 8 near its rear As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thecutter-blades 8 each are nearly flat plates of suitable metal, which arepointed edge wise at their front ends and diverge at said edgesrearward,thus producing cutters that taper edgewise forwardly, and both edges ofeach cutter-blade may be sharpened, thus adapting the blades to severweeds and vines or cut off surplus growths of cotton-plants, as willpresently be explained.

In Fig. 3 is shown a means for connecting The shafts 6 extend a suitableheightabove the spaced cutter-blades 8 so that both may the beams A, andupon the upper end of each shaft is secured one end of a lever 9, saidlevers projecting rearward, so that their free ends, which serve ashandles, may be conveniently grasped by the plowman who controls themovement of the cultivator by means of the handles E. Thelevers E) areso disposed with regard to the respective cutter-blzules 8 that when thelovers are about parallel with 2 the beams A and with each other thepoints of the cutter-blades are inclined an equal degree toward eachother, as shown in Fig. 2.

Upon each of the shafts 6 below the beams A a linger-bar 10 is secured,which bars incline downward and are positioned directly above thecutter-blades 8, as shown in Fig. 2. The relative position of the lovers9 adapts the rocking movement of said levers toward each other tocorrespomlingly rock the cutterblades 8 outwardly or away from eachother at their points.

In using the machine for the cultivation of corn or cotton-plants thatare arranged in rows, and which may require thinning out by removal ofthe surplus plants at spaced intervals in each row, the machine is movedby applied power along between two rows, which will permit thecultivator-blades H to be employed for uprooting weeds and the agitationof thesoil between the rows of growing plants. Simultaneously with theprogressive movement of the shovel-plow blades H the plowman manipulatesthe levers 9 so as to laterally rock the blades 8, this vibration of theblades causing them to pass outwardly between standing stalks ofcotton-plants and cut off surplus growths of the plants, as well asweeds, vines, or the like that should be killed. It will be seen thatbyspreadingapart the cutter-blades so that they are positioned asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 theweeds and stalks that have beencut and that may hang upon the blades will by the frictional contact ofthe ground be stripped from the cutter-blades so that they mayin thisway be kept in operative condition. The normal position of thecutter-blades 8 causes them to become embedded in the soil at each sideof a row of plants, and they may approach the roots of the growingplants, but not near enough to injure them, which adjustment occurs whenthe levers 9 are disposed parallel with each other, as shown in Fig. 2.As the finger-bars 10 are positioned directly above the cutter-bladesSat theirtransverse centers, said bars will indicate the exact positionsof the cutter-blades that are being vibrated beneath the surface of thesoil, which will enable the operator to safely control the degree oflateral movement that may be given to the cutter-blades and alsoindicate when such movements will be safely effected.

; proaeh each other.

be actuated in opposite directions at the same time by the use of asingle lever 9. To this end a crank arm 11 is secured on the body ofeach shaft 6, preferably above the beams A, as is shown in Fig. 3. Uponthe outer ends of the crank-arms 11 corresponding ends of a link-bar 12are pivoted, and, as shown, the blades 8 are equally inclined towardeach other when the link-bar is disposed midway between the beams A. Thelever 9 is secured upon the upper end of one of the shafts 6 preferablythe one carried by the beam A thatis at therightside of thecultivator-frame, and said lever is arranged parallel to the beam whenthe points of the cutter-blades 8 ap- Indicating linger-bars 10 aresecured on the shafts 6" above the cutterblades 8. The operation of thisexample of our invention is the same as that already described, with theexception that the blades 8 may be rocked laterally by means of thesingle lever 9, and thus be moved between growing plants for cultivationof the soil and killing of weeds or surplus growths of such plants.

It is obvious that the improved cotton-chopping and weed-killingmechanism may be mounted upon a cultivator-frame that has its membersarranged differently from that herein specified as, for example, theside beams may be converged at their forward ends instead of being heldparallel with each other. Furthermore, the improvement may be mountedupon a frame that is adapted for progressive movement and dispense withthe cultivator-plow blades, as well as the standards that they aremounted upon. In such an arrangement the cutter-blades serve to killweeds, chop out surplus cotton-plants between those that are to be leftstanding in rows, and also to stir the soil, so as to loosen it upbetween rows of growing cotton-plants or corn that has been planted inrows and needs thinning out to render it productive of grain.

Slight changes in constructive details may resorted to within the scopeof the invention as defined in the claims, it being understood that theinvention embodies practical means for manually rocking one or morehorizontal cutter-blades on a progressively-moved support therefor, sothat the cutter blade or blades will while embedded in the soil beadapted to enter between standing spaced plants and chop out surplusgrowths as well as weeds, and at the same time loosen the soil betweenrows of plants as well as between plants in each row.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. The combination with a movable support, ofan upright rockable shaft thereon, means for rocking said shaft, acutter-blade projecting laterally from the lower end of said shaft, andan indicating-finger on the shaft above the cutter-blade.

2. The combination with a movable frame having two parallel side beamsand boxes thereon, of a rockable shaft held in each box, a leverprojected laterally from the upper end of each shaft, a cutter-bladeprojected in a horizontal plane fromthe lower end of each shaft and inan upright plane at an angle to that of the lever, and anindicating-finger on each shaft centrally above a respective cutterbladethereon.

3. The combination with a movable frame having two side beams, anupright shaft held to rock on each of the side beams, arms on the shaft,a link between the arms, and means for rocking both shafts together, ofa substantially flat cutter-blade on the lower end of each shaft andprojecting therefrom at an angle to the vertical plane of the leverthereon,

and an indicating-finger on each shaft directly above the cutter-bladethereon.

4. The combination with a cultivator-frame, shovel-blades supported onsaid frame, means adapting the frame for progressive movement, and meansfor guiding the cultivator, of two upright shafts held to rock on theside beams of the cultivator-frame, a lever on the upper end of eachshaft, a substantially flat cutterblade horizontally disposed andsecured to project from the lower end of each shaft, and anindicating-finger secured on each shaft above a respective cutter-bladeand in the same vertical plane therewith.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES S. SIMMONS. WM. N. ROSE. Witnesses:

CAssIUs M. GLINGAN, WV. E. PIOKET.

